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February 7, 2013

[The Kerala state police have been adamant so
far that it must be the agency entrusted with the responsibility of immigration
control at the Kochi International Airport. This important airport in India, is
one of the exceptional places where the state police runs the immigration
processes. In most other international terminals in India, the Central
Intelligence Bureau (IB) operates the immigration wing. Police officers accused
of criminal activities in the international terminal at Kochi airport is not a
new phenomenon.]

A number of 28 police
officers from the Kerala State police is accused of running a human trafficking
cartel in the state. This felonious syndicate run by police officers is linked
with international criminal cartels that supply women, children, and men. It is
estimated that about 300 victims have been trafficked out of India by this
criminal gang. Officers directly linked with human trafficking belong to all
ranks, like Superintendent of Police, Deputy Superintendents, Circle
Inspectors, Sub Inspectors and constables. This gang has been in operation for
at least the past six years and many among them were stationed at the Kochi International
Airport, exclusively responsible for immigration clearance of travellers.

The Asian Human Rights
Commission (AHRC) has consistently opined that the single largest impediment to
internal security in India is the country's police unless drastic measures are
taken to refine the police. The above incident is the latest proof to AHRC's
assertion, in the form of confession of one of the police officers charged with
the offence, Mr. A. P. Ajeeb.

The Kerala state police
have been adamant so far that it must be the agency entrusted with the
responsibility of immigration control at the Kochi International Airport. This
important airport in India, is one of the exceptional places where the state
police runs the immigration processes. In most other international terminals in
India, the Central Intelligence Bureau (IB) operates the immigration wing.
Police officers accused of criminal activities in the international terminal at
Kochi airport is not a new phenomenon.

For instance, there
have been cases in the past where police officers stationed in immigration
counters at Kochi accused of allowing persons to enter or exit the country
without recording it in their travel documents. On each such occasion, even if
the matter was reported in the local media, it would soon be internally hushed
up and nothing heard any further. Not surprisingly, Deputy Superintendent of
Police, Mr. N. V. Somarajan, who investigated the human trafficking case
initially, is also part of the criminal syndicate. This too is revealed in
Ajeeb's confession.

This case has all the
footprints of the decayed policing system in India. It is a practice in India
for the police officers to be entrusted with jobs that they are not expected,
equipped, or trained to do. One may argue that the police in India is neither
equipped nor trained to undertake law-enforcement as required in a fast
developing democracy. In fact, such performance is not expected of the police,
since the national policing policy, is to forcefully impart the writ of those
in power, for which the police is encouraged to use brute force with impunity.

For this, rules are
negated, even at the risk of national security, just as it is reported in the
Kochi incident. It is nothing less than a sign of anarchy in governance and
polices, that today, police is the least accountable and its policies
absolutely non-transparent in the country.

An additional symptom
of the anarchy is in the practice of the police investigating allegations
against the police. With what figment of trust could Indians expect their
police, notorious for committing crimes, to be honest and professional in
investigating crimes alleged against them? The very concept lacks both honesty
and is unprofessional. It is just that both the police and the government fail
to admit it. The statement by one of the linchpin in the human trafficking
network that operated in Kerala affirms this assumption.

That be so, the
additional question that is to be asked is why did them the government, and the
then Director General of Police allow the case to be investigated by a
relatively low-ranking officer, a Deputy Superintendent of Police? What
prevented the state government from requesting for assistance from the central
government or of its agencies to undertake an investigation? On the other hand,
is it so that both the governments as well as the police are complicit in
allowing the police to get away with crimes they commit? The logical answer to
these questions should be nothing less than an emphatic yes.

The Kochi human
trafficking incident brings forth the following questions:

(i) Persons of
questionable backgrounds, unsafe to be entering or leaving India could have
passed through the Kochi International Airport with the knowledge of police
officers who were stationed at the airport, with no other mandate, but to
prevent it. The state government, its police or the central government have no
means to know who these people are and when and where they have went,
irrespective of whether they travelled into the country or out of it;

(ii) There is no way to
trace the victims of human trafficking, since many must have left on fake
documents. So far, the government has not attempted to trace the victims. The
government is extremely handicapped in this since it has no trustworthy records
to depend upon to trace the victims' identities internally, nor can the
government request any foreign governments for information since it does not
know who came from where and went where;

(iii) The
investigations so far have revealed huge sums of money being transferred
between accounts of private individuals, police officers of various ranks, and
their relatives. Will the government be able to recover this money from the
officers? So far, there has been no attempt in this direction;

(iv) Above all, what
immediate action has the government done, now that such a serious crime has
been unearthed? Would there be actions taken by the government to bring
accountability in police actions?;

(v) Are the officers
named, their actions specified in the confession statement placed on
suspension?;

Unfortunately, in India
none of this is possible. This is why it is justified in saying that law
enforcement in India is nothing more than uniformed anarchy. No state or its
people will remain secure with such a
police force.

[Following
the assassination of the monk two persons suspected of the murder, Sujeewa
Gunnaratna (29) and Chandima Nuwanratna, were allegedly arrested by the Mount
Lavinia police and later their bodies were found on an isolated road at
Bandaragama. They had both been shot in the back of the head indicating an
execution-style killing. The Chief Magistrate of Kalutera conducted the inquest
at the location where their bodies were found and ordered a post mortem inquiry
to be conducted by a Judicial Medical Officer. According to the JMO's report
the deaths were due to shooting causing serious injuries. ]

The
chief monk of Sunandonanda of Egodauyana, Moratuwa was assassinated by a group
of persons on the evening of February 4. According to reports there had been a
prolonged dispute over a piece of land that the chief monk claimed he had the
title for where a number of families had erected their huts. They claimed to
have been living there since the Tsunami of December, 2004.

Complaints
relating to the dispute had been lodged earlier at the Moratuwa Police Station
by both parties and the inquiries were ongoing. Both parties were supporters of
the government. It appears that they were both relied on strong men in the
employment of their respective patrons in the government. The hut dwellers had
complained to various organisations stating that they feared that the chief
monk was attempts to evict them.

Following
the assassination of the monk two persons suspected of the murder, Sujeewa
Gunnaratna (29) and Chandima Nuwanratna, were allegedly arrested by the Mount
Lavinia police and later their bodies were found on an isolated road at
Bandaragama. They had both been shot in the back of the head indicating an
execution-style killing. The Chief Magistrate of Kalutera conducted the inquest
at the location where their bodies were found and ordered a post mortem inquiry
to be conducted by a Judicial Medical Officer. According to the JMO's report
the deaths were due to shooting causing serious injuries.

Following
their deaths their relatives complained that there were difficulties in burying
the two as the Kalutera Pradeshiya Sabha (the town council) refused to grant
permission for the burial at the Attawilawatte graveyard. According to reports
the police had to intervene to find a suitable place by legal means in which to
bury the bodies.

Later,
seven persons including a Pradeshiya Sabha vice president were arrested as
suspects of this monk's murder and were produced in court.

These
incidents raise several issues of serious concern in relation to the function
of policing in Sri Lanka. First of all the dispute between the chief monk and
the hut dwellers had been a long one and it should have been the duty of the
police to intervene in order to settle it in such a way as to ensure peace
between the two parties. It appears that the police, as usual, were hamstrung
by the political influence different parties and failed to provide protection
to the individuals. If such protection was provided the brutal assassination of
the chief monk might have been avoided.

Following
the assassination two persons were arrested and, as mentioned above, they were
killed in an execution style shooting. The killing of persons after arrest, not
a new phenomenon in Sri Lanka, has been reported in recent months in several
places such as Galle after a horrifying murder where four persons were found
dead with similar execution-style injuries. It was also reported that, in fact,
the four persons had no connection to the killing in question. At Kahawatte
where there had been a large number of mysterious killings, three of the
persons who were arrested on suspicion of some of the killings were disposed of
after they had obtained bail from court in a similar manner.

It
appears that such killings of arrested persons happens particularly where
incidents causing public scandal and fear take place and the law enforcement
authorities have to create the impression that they are doing something to deal
with such crimes. The public dissatisfaction with the police and criticism
about their inaction has now led to this kind of dramatic execution, perhaps
with the view to prevent the public reacting to such crimes by taking the law
into their own hands.

The
weakening of the policing system due to political influence has created
situations where violence results in the creation of shocking crimes and the
breakdown of the police investigative system has placed the police in the
situation where they have to deal with severe public dissatisfaction over such
events. To appease the public they resort to such execution-style killings.

The
basic function of a government is to provide security to the people. When it
proves incapable of doing so disputes among people lead to violent clashes and
as a result society is gripped with insecurity. In Sri Lanka the failure of the
government to maintain the rule of law has now created this bewildering social
specter.

During
the colonial times a basic legal apparatus was created and that legal apparatus
provided basic security to the people with the ability of the law enforcement
agencies to control crime. What the British did in constructing such a legal
framework was to put into effect certain theoretical premises arrived at
through the lessons learned from their past experiences. Already in 1651 Thomas
Hobbes writing his highly acclaimed book, Leviathan explained the reason for
the origin of government on the basis of the peoples need for self preservation
which is achieved through the transfer of power to a government to ensure the
protection of all. From then on a basic theoretical construct developed about
the state's role in protection and how societies can collapse into anarchy when
the states fails to carry out this role.

It
is the signs of anarchy that are witnessed in Sri Lanka today as a result of
the government's abandonment of the maintenance of the basic public
institutions which are necessary for social stability. In 2001 the Sri Lankan
Parliament unanimously recognised that such a situation of social instability
was developing in Sri Lanka due to the operation of the 1978 Constitution. The
parliament proposed the 17th Amendment to the Constitution whereby several
measures were proposed to at least, partially deal with this problem. The
government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, through the 18th Amendment abandoned these
measures and did not create any alternative to strengthen the basic public
institutions such as the police.

This
basic disregard for the maintenance of the public institutions that sustain the
law and thereby create social stability was again manifest by the way in which
the Chief Justice, Shirani Bandaranayke was removed and a new CJ was appointed.
The entire operation was done with shocking disregard for the established legal
premises.

The
result of all this is the multiple forms of insecurity as manifested in the
murder of the chief monk and the execution style assassination of the two men.
The rapid plunge into a situation of anarchy is manifested through many such
incidents that take place routinely in Sri Lanka.